21
May
2020
|
13:22 PM
America/New_York

COVID-19: Spinal surgeons report “elevated anxiety and uncertainty for the future”

Spinal News International reports on study findings published in the Global Spine Journal by HSS fellow, Philip Louie, MD, and colleagues, evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on spine surgeons worldwide. 902 spine surgeons from the AO Spine membership responded to a 73-quesiton survey, representing 91 countries and 7 global regions.

The findings unveiled that COVID-19 has a varying impact on clinical practice among spine surgeons, with most reporting the cancellation of 75 percent of their surgical cases per week, however differences in the reported cancellation rate were observed across geographic regions. Similar discrepancies are present with ongoing elective and emergency surgical cases, with a variation in precaution recommendations for procedures. The greatest current stressors reported by respondents included concerns about family health, followed by economic issues, the timeline to resume normal practice and community health.

Dr. Louie and authors further reported that spine surgeons exhibited elevated anxiety and uncertainty for the future. “The lower rates of testing and diagnosis among our cohort, compared with the general population, suggest surgeons’ knowledge of disease transmission and/or possible greater adherence to public health measures aimed at limiting exposure,” they wrote.

Read the full article at Spinalnewsinternational.com.